But did you know: Sheryl Sandberg says Facebook didn’t know about the offensive targeting terms until ProPublica brought them to their attention(Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook)
“People wrote these deeply offensive terms into the education and employer write-in fields and because these terms were used so infrequently, we did not discover this until ProPublica brought it to our attention,” Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg says. “We never intended or anticipated this functionality being used this way – and that is on us. And we did not find it ourselves – and that is also on us.” In response, Facebook is adding more human review and oversight to its automated ad processes, as well as clarifying its ad policies and creating a program that will encourage people to report potential abuses of the ad system.

Twitter, we just can’t quit you“For journalists and other non-trolls, navigating Twitter can be like walking in flip-flops through a well-used dog park. Even if you don’t step in anything, it’s a tricky and odious journey that leaves you slightly nauseous. And exhausted,” API’s Jane Elizabeth writes. It’s no surprise, then, that NYT White House correspondent Glenn Thrush announced he was taking a hiatus from Twitter this week. But, what responsibility do journalists have on Twitter, given the amount of misinformation on the platform?

A step-by-step guide for a thorough and fair hiring process(Hearken, Medium)
After hiring its ninth full-time employee, Hearken is sharing the details of its hiring process — one that has been praised by its applicants, and even those who weren’t offered a job. “Applying for this position has been a delight and unlike any experience I’ve had in terms of feedback and timeline information,” one applicant said. Some highlights: Hearken creates an outreach plan for the job posting, with specific tasks and deadlines assigned for sharing the posting to specific groups; Hearken opts for an application form over a cover letter to give better signals about what in an applicant’s experience they were most interested in learning about; and applications are scored on a rubric, creating a standard for evaluating applicants across interviewers.

Google’s head of AI: Artificial intelligence isn’t going to destroy humanity(TechCrunch)
“I think there’s a huge amount of hype around AI right now. There’s a lot of people that are unreasonably concerned around the rise of general AI,” Google’s head of search and artificial intelligence John Giannandrea said at TechCrunch Disrupt SF. “Machine learning and artificial intelligence are extremely important and will revolutionize our industry. What we’re doing is building tools like the Google search engine and making you more productive.” Giannandrea went on to explain why he believes warnings of an “AI apocalypse” have been overstated.

Kevin Delaney: Advertising is still a good business model for news, but it’s been done in a way that isn’t friendly to readers(Digiday)
“We still have confidence in advertising,” Quartz’s editor in chief Kevin Delaney says on the Digiday podcast. “It’s a business model that works. We think that advertising has been done in a manner that’s not super friendly to readers. Advertising will be the foundation of what Quartz will be over the next five years. Our audience is 52 percent female. It’s also younger — in their 40s, which is different from the general stuffy board rooms. This is the audience that a lot of advertisers want to reach. … The core of Quartz will always remain free. We’re focused on a specific segment, the business news. It’s a global audience, which is like the dream of a lot of marketers.”

After covering two back-to-back hurricanes, what have fact-checkers learned about covering storms?(Poynter)
After nearly four weeks of covering hurricanes, “fact-checkers across the United States are grappling with how to improve their debunking efforts during natural disasters,” Poynter’s Daniel Funke writes. Between covering Harvey, Irma and now Maria, what have fact-checkers learned about debunking misinformation around these storms? “As an individual journalist trying to do these roundups and respond rapidly in situations like this, I feel like thinking more ahead of time about how to prevent these things can be very useful,” Washington Post’s Abby Ohlheiser said. First Draft News’ Claire Wardle also suggested that fact-checkers could do a better job reaching the people who need to see fact-checks: “I think we’re really bad at connecting with community groups. I don’t think we’ve really thought through online communication channels during natural disasters and emergencies. How can we be better at putting out quality information and it reaching the people who need it?”